Economists got one right, but don't give them too much credit. It was pretty clear fourth-quarter GDP would be revised lower.
Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 according to the "third" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.4 percent.
Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of 4.6 percent in the third quarter. The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity that equally weights GDP and GDI, increased 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with an increase of 4.0 percent in the third quarter.
Consumer Metrics
Rick Davis at the Consumer Metrics Institute offers these insights.
http://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/economics/bea-revises-4th-quarter-gdp-to-2-2-from-2-6-long-very-weak-recovery-TRrM2ti9YEiQLPTUBIPJ4g/
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
| 